Dapol Class 22

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Aft'noon all,

 

The standard of the wheelsets on both the 22 and 52 is generally poor. Dapol need to review how they contract the supply of them quickly because such issues detract badly from the appeal of their models.

 

I would contact DCC supplies, as per Dapol's advice and ask for replacement wheelsets for those that are defective. Alternatively, return the loco to them to do the repair.

 

The more worrying aspect of this issue is that there will be many degrees of wheelset defectiveness out there and many unskilled owners who are unable to recognise the heralds of problems...let alone start to investigate how their loco is afflicted/test each wheelset for concentricity and parallel/squarely mounted wheels. Problems will also be stored for the future by box collectors who don't run their locos. 

 

It doesn't matter how wonderful the aesthetics of locos (and all other rolling stock) are...the fundamental issue of providing true and squarely arranged wheelsets will always be the ultimate standard by which all models (which run on model railways) are judged. 

 

Dave   

Edited June 13, 2013 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

[Ian Hargrave]

How does that happen, Ian? There's a good 7mm gap between the contact strips and the brass bushes on each side and a fair amount of plastic in the muffs and gears to keep them apart. Unless well and truly mangled there's no chance of the contact strips touching. If you have shorting across an axle it's more likely to be a rogue wheel set causing shorting between the two stub axles. Perhaps an over-long stub axle or one that hasn't been pressed into the wheel correctly. Either that or the axles have been pressed too far into the muff, though that would show up by checking B2B and would most likely lead to a stiff axle.

 

Nick

Don't ask me how it happens.....I think you have probably identified it. Once it is sorted,all will be fine. It took Alex (Lochnagar ),two attempts of well over an hour and sheer skill and determination to sort mine. Torr Giffard's advice is sound.Let DCC Supplies deal with it.They are the best option here and they are very good.

[steveb860]

I picked up a Howes sound decoder for my disc headcode 22 today, It is fitted and currently idling in the background. What an absolute cracker. Also very impressed with the way this, and the Western have been designed to take a base enhanced speaker, which will improve the sound experience no end ( which i have on order too, but out of stock).  The other manufacturers, especially Heljan, could learn a thing or two from these loco's when it comes to sound provision.

Thanks Dapol Dave, keep them coming.     

[SRman]

I also have the Howes sound in mine. I tried a bass reflex speaker, a bass enhanced and a normal rectangular/oval speaker with a large sound chamber and found there was very little difference with this particular sound set so settled on the standard speaker, saving the bass reflex and enhanced ones for other projects where they may be of more benefit.

[tender]

I picked up a Howes sound decoder for my disc headcode 22 today, It is fitted and currently idling in the background. What an absolute cracker. 

 

 

I also have the Howes sound in mine. I tried a bass reflex speaker, a bass enhanced and a normal rectangular/oval speaker with a large sound chamber and found there was very little difference with this particular sound set so settled on the standard speaker, saving the bass reflex and enhanced ones for other projects where they may be of more benefit.

 

Any chance of a bit of YouTube so we can hear what it sounds like? I know my Zimo sound isn't in any way a true recording as there are no 22's to record from. It will be interesting to hear what Howes are offering.

[SRman]

I will try to record it in the near future. It is only recently that I have been able to catch up some of my previously unrecorded sound locos on video. Some are on YouTube and some in Photobucket. For a couple I am still working on editing the files. I can't say it's a particularly exciting sound but it does give me something different to the other hydraulics I have (a Hymek and a Western).

 

I usually do several circuits of the layout, with the start up and power up on the first pass, full throttle and spool down on the second pass, then coasting to a halt and shut down on the third, although that can be varied a bit to suit particular sound projects if they have other features. I then edit the video to cut out the 'dead' tunnel running behind the scenes.

 

However, some recordings I took on my phone (an HTC Sensation XL), while perfectly viewable in themselves, don't take to editing in Pinnacle Studio 12, especially when adding transitions. I think the frame rate may be lower than when I use the 'proper' video camera and when Pinnacle adds the transitions it can't cope with fewer frames so jumps back a few frames at the end of the transition.

[Phil Bullock]

Any chance of a bit of YouTube so we can hear what it sounds like? I know my Zimo sound isn't in any way a true recording as there are no 22's to record from. It will be interesting to hear what Howes are offering.

 

9.09 onwards

 

All sounds on here are Howes - except the sparrows!

 

Phil

[Brian Kirby]

Hi Phil,

   Great little video and some great sounds, including tweety pie and the light aircraft, in fact i had to freeze the film a couple of times, thinking the plane was outside my own window. Very impressive operations and train rakes, i particularly like the long rakes of mineral wagons. Good to see a Class 22 making an appearance, was that one off to Gloucester, i forget? One negative point, easily rectified, i reckon the guard on the Western Ranger railtour and the carriage shunters (aka the fiddle yard operators) will all be in for a bollocking, for forgetting to include a brake coach in the rake!  (Watch it again if anyone doesn't believe me)

                                                                     Cheers, Brian.

[Phil Bullock]

Yup that's a form 1 all round! No brake = no tail lamp either!

 

6320 off Gloucester heading for Bromsgrove to contribute to the late 60s re-engineering

 

Phil

[Brian Kirby]

Well, you'll have to have a Department of Transport inquiry now Phil, although you could pretend it's only an empty stock working, with the guard sitting in the rear loco cab, but that's only o.k. after about 1968/69 i think? I could be wrong, but prior to that the loco was for footplatemen only and guards weren't allowed anywhere near, i believe there was a bit of a hoo-ha at the time about this?

 

Another question: The Hymek was going to "Stratford", i initially took this as Stratford-Upon-Avon, but then realized it was travelling south, so is it actually going to Stratford, East London? As a kid, i remember seeing Hymeks on the Tottenham & Hampstead line (Gospel Oak to Barking) which were almost certainly running to and from Stratford (Temple Mills), so i probably saw your own train in a weird trans-dimensional way.     BK 

Edited June 18, 2013 by Brian Kirby

[Phil Bullock]

Pretend??? Nooooo!!!

 

Thanks for interest Brian. Have moved response to my Abbotswood Junction layout thread to avoid going OTT here

 

Kind regards

 

Phil

[D1030western musketeer]

I have had 2 class 22s since they were released and up until yesterday all has been fine with them.

My blue D6326 has now had a similar failure of the dreaded blanking plate operating the lights which now refuse to light up the same problem I gave up with the westerns in the end.I have also noticed my green 22 is now also playing up with the lights flickering at one end.So after all this time and the problems I encounted with the Dapol western which led to me giving up on them has now hit my Dapol 22s.

I have stated elsewhere that no other of my Bachmann/Heljan locos have gave me this amount of headaches.Aquiring more 21pin blanking plates is not going to solve the situ as I found out with the 52 so must be a circuit board issue somewhere along the lines.

It maybe that I may hardwire lights in them somehow if it can be done.

 

Richard.

[Ray M]

Seems like they are just like the real thing then.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

 

 

 

I have had 2 class 22s since they were released and up until yesterday all has been fine with them.

My blue D6326 has now had a similar failure of the dreaded blanking plate operating the lights which now refuse to light up the same problem I gave up with the westerns in the end.I have also noticed my green 22 is now also playing up with the lights flickering at one end.So after all this time and the problems I encounted with the Dapol western which led to me giving up on them has now hit my Dapol 22s.

I have stated elsewhere that no other of my Bachmann/Heljan locos have gave me this amount of headaches.Aquiring more 21pin blanking plates is not going to solve the situ as I found out with the 52 so must be a circuit board issue somewhere along the lines.

It maybe that I may hardwire lights in them somehow if it can be done.

 

Richard.

 

 

I would be using a different transformer/method of control by now Richard...even if it was just for peace of mind. 

 

Dave

Edited June 22, 2013 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

[D1030western musketeer]

Why I ask,my transformers operate every other manufactured loco over 40 of them with no problems and are gaugemaster combis so a good make.

I cant afford to change just for Dapol locos and should,nt need to.

 

Richard.

[steveb860]

Why I ask,my transformers operate every other manufactured loco over 40 of them with no problems and are gaugemaster combis so a good make.

I cant afford to change just for Dapol locos and should,nt need to.

 

Richard.

Well, with the amount of problems you have had, it would seem your control system and Dapol loco's are not liking each other. Personally I would have stopped using Dapol loco's with my system after 2 or 3 failures, and had my controller & power supply checked out, if it had happened to me.  Nobody else is reporting a similar amount of failures. My 3 Dapol loco's are fine using a Bachmann Dynamis.

[Les1952]

Why I ask,my transformers operate every other manufactured loco over 40 of them with no problems and are gaugemaster combis so a good make.

I cant afford to change just for Dapol locos and should,nt need to.

 

Richard.

 

Even more worth getting your controllers checked- I understand Gaugemaster have a lifetime warranty, so it should be cheaper to get your controllers replaced  if there is a problem than replacing your locos.....

 

Les

[SwissRailPassion]

I doubt the controller is the problem. My Dapol 22 on DC was still having problems on its 3rd blanking chip. On clean new track  it did not run smoothly and the lights flickered. It has gone back for replacement. 

 

It took me back to my teenage years when far too many models didn't work well out of the box.

Edited June 26, 2013 by SwissRailPassion

[D1030western musketeer]

I have had my controllers check out thanks and stress my 22s ran fine for 3months but now have both blown the blanking plate which connect the lights.My blue one had a replacement one fitted last week and lasted 2hrs.This is the same problem I had with Dapol westerns and yes I am on dc.It is only Dapol locos that are doing this so again can,t and is,nt my controllers.Saying this my 22s run a lot better without the lights but this should not be the case.

 

Richard.

[frobisher]

Just a thought, but wasn't there something about the DCC connector being 22 pin rather than 21 pin on these? The solution for DCC running was to snip the extra pin off so that the decoders could fit and it may be worth doing the same when using the blanking plate as there may just be an extra potential floating around that shouldn't be. Just a thought.

[bubbles2]

I have had my controllers check out thanks and stress my 22s ran fine for 3months but now have both blown the blanking plate which connect the lights.My blue one had a replacement one fitted last week and lasted 2hrs.This is the same problem I had with Dapol westerns and yes I am on dc.It is only Dapol locos that are doing this so again can,t and is,nt my controllers.Saying this my 22s run a lot better without the lights but this should not be the case.

 

Richard.

It sounds like I have been having the same problems as Richard with my 22s and Western.

I have been in contact with Dapol Dave and Andy at DCC Supplies and I cannot speak highly enough of the help I have received from them.

Firstly 3 new PCBs were sent to me, the Western has been a persistent failure and has been returned to DCC twice, with a complete replacement chassis, supplied by Dave, fitted on its last visit, but still the lighting/DCC blanking PCB has failed again.

Having been in contact with Dave again today he is pointing the finger at my H&M power supply/control.

As Richard has found I also have never had a problem with other manufacturers locomotives.

[DapolDave]

It sounds like I have been having the same problems as Richard with my 22s and Western.

I have been in contact with Dapol Dave and Andy at DCC Supplies and I cannot speak highly enough of the help I have received from them.

Firstly 3 new PCBs were sent to me, the Western has been a persistent failure and has been returned to DCC twice, with a complete replacement chassis, supplied by Dave, fitted on its last visit, but still the lighting/DCC blanking PCB has failed again.

Having been in contact with Dave again today he is pointing the finger at my H&M power supply/control.

As Richard has found I also have never had a problem with other manufacturers locomotives.

 

No, to be fair here, I wasn't pointing the finger at all. I suggested that using the H&M controller as a back up to your hand built ones 'might' have not helped matters, not DID not help matters.

 

sorry but fairs fair when quoting me please.

[bubbles2]

No, to be fair here, I wasn't pointing the finger at all. I suggested that using the H&M controller as a back up to your hand built ones 'might' have not helped matters, not DID not help matters.

 

sorry but fairs fair when quoting me please.

Ok sorry Dave, I had not meant to miss quote you, please accept my apologies.

 

But it is certainly another thing to look at and I had not realised that this might be a problem.

[StuartM]

Well, with the amount of problems you have had, it would seem your control system and Dapol loco's are not liking each other. Personally I would have stopped using Dapol loco's with my system after 2 or 3 failures, and had my controller & power supply checked out, if it had happened to me.  Nobody else is reporting a similar amount of failures. My 3 Dapol loco's are fine using a Bachmann Dynamis.

Take a look at the Poor Build quality thread

Just about every Dapol loco I've had has been a dud

And like others state, the locos should run perfectly with any controller

[Vanders]

And like others state, the locos should run perfectly with any controller

That simply isn't true. Different motors and different controllers all have different characteristics, and some do not work well together. It's common knowledge that you shouldn't use a feedback controller with a coreless motor, for example.

 

It's also not uncommon for certain DC controllers to output voltage in excess of 12V DC; I can get my Gaugemaster 'W' to over 14V measured at the track.